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Chapitre 10. Flow Nets: Réseaux D'écoulement
Chapitre 10. Flow Nets: Réseaux D'écoulement
Flow Nets
page 1
Chapitre 10.
10.1
Flow Nets1
Introduction
Let us consider a state of plane seepage as for example in the earth dam shown in Figure 1.
Rseaux d'coulement
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 2
Phreatic line
Unsaturated
Soil
Drainage
blanket
Flow of water
z
x
2h 2h
+
=0
x 2 z 2
subject to certain boundary conditions.
10.2
Representation of Solution
At every, point (x,z) where there is flow there will be a value of head h(x,z). In order to represent
these values we draw contours of equal head (red lines) as shown on Figure 2.
Equipotential
(EP)
Flow line
(FL)
Fig.2 Flow lines and equipotentials
h( x, z ) = constant
quipotentielles
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 3
It is also useful in visualising the flow in a soil to plot the flow lines (blue lines noted FL), these are
lines that are tangential to the flow at a given point and are illustrated in Figure 2.
It can be seen from Fig. (2) that the flow lines and equipotentials are orthogonal.
10.3
Let us consider another example of seepage under a sheet pile wall. The flow net is represented
on figure 3.
Observation pipes
Figure 3
On Fig. 3, each interval between two equipotentials corresponds to a head loss h equal to 1/Nd
of the total head loss h through the soil :
h = h / Nd
Where Nd = Total number of equipotentials.
Consider a pair of flow lines, clearly the flow through this flow tube must be constant and so as the
tube narrows the velocity must increase.
Let us consider the flow through abcd delimited by two flow lines and two equipotentials.
The hydraulic gradient is :
i = h/l1 = h / (Nd. l1)
Where l1 is the distance between the two equipotentials.
Lignes de courant
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 4
10.4
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
Water
page 5
H-z
Soil
z
Datum
Figure 5 Equipotential boundary
uw
uw
+z
now
so
w (H z)
( H z ) w
+z=H
That is, the head is constant for any value of z, which is by definition an equipotential.
Alternatively, this could have been determined by considering imaginary observation pipes placed
at the soil boundary, as for every point the water level in the standpipe would be the same as the
water level.
A consequence of this is that all the flow lines arrive perpendicularly to a submerged soil
boundary.
The upstream face of the dam shown in Figures 1 and 2 is an example of this situation.
10.4.2 Impermeable Boundary = Flow Line
At a boundary between permeable and impermeable material the velocity normal to the boundary
must be zero since otherwise there would be water flowing into or out of the impermeable material,
this is illustrated in Figure 6.
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 6
vn= 0
vt
h=
thus
h =
now
uw
w
u w
+z
+ z
u w = 0
and so
h = z
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 7
10.5
1.
Mark all boundary conditions. Determine the head at the inlet and outlet of the flow net.
2.
3.
Modify the net so that it meets the conditions outlined above and so
that the mesh located between adjacent flow lines and equipotentials are
square (you could draw an inscribed circle).
10.6
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 8
15 m
h = 15m
5m
h = 0
h = 12m
h = 9m
h = 6m
h = 3m
drops = 5.
Suppose that the permeability of the underlying soil is k=10-5 m/sec (typical of a fine sand or silt)
then the flow per unit width of dam is:
Q = 25 15 10 5 m3 /sec
10.6.2 Calculation of Pore Water Pressure
The pore water pressure at any point can be found using the expression
h=
uw
+z
Now referring to Fig. 8 suppose that we wish to calculate the pore water pressure at the point P.
Taking the datum to be at the base of the dam it can be seen that z = - 5m and so:
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 9
4.5 m
6m
Impermeable soil
Figure 9
To check your flow net drawn by hand, you can use FDSOLVER.XLA, a excel macro using the
Finite Difference Method. That macro is available on the course Moodle website, together with an
install note4 and an help file containing examples. That macro can be also be useful in other
domains like heat diffusion, electric potential, fluid flow, vibrations,
The steps to follow are explained in the help file. You should "draw" the model like this :
An update to the install note has been added by a 2011-1012 student, Franois Diffels, for Excel 2007 and
2010. Thanks Franois!
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 10
The light green cells (left and bottom) are the y and x scales (0.5m step) (not mandatory, but it
helps to draw the model to scale.
The yellow cells are either head specified boundaries (the top lines at either side of the wall), or an
impermeable boundary (the wall itself).
To solve the system and get the head values at any point (cell), just select the area with the white
and yellow cells, then select Tools, FDSOLVER, 2D-LAPLACE, then specify the scale if
necessary, then press "run".
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
Now, select the result area and choose the good graph options (Excel 2003) :
page 11
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 12
And by clicking on the right vertical axis (otherwise the graph appears upside down !):
4.00-4.50
S3
S5
3.50-4.00
S7
S9
3.00-3.50
S11
S13
S15
2.50-3.00
S17
S19
2.00-2.50
S21
S23
1.50-2.00
S25
S27
1 2
3 4
5 6 7
1.00-1.50
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
0.50-1.00
Of course that macro only plots the head lines, as it is the head that follows the Laplace's
equation. The flow lines must be drawn by hand, trying to draw "square" meshes.
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 13
S1
4.00-4.50
S3
S5
3.50-4.00
S7
S9
3.00-3.50
S11
S13
S15
2.50-3.00
S17
S19
2.00-2.50
S21
S23
1.50-2.00
S25
S27
1 2
3 4
5 6 7
1.00-1.50
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
0.50-1.00
10m
20m
chou
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 14
2. calculate:
The pore water pressure distribution across the base of the vessel
The total upthrust due to this increase in pore water pressure
The rate at which water must be pumped into the well point.
10.6.5 Exercise
-3
2. The figure 11 shows a concrete dam lying on a permeable soil layer (k = 12.5 10 mm/s).
a) draw the flow net
b) calculate the total flow, per m width of dam, passing under the dam
c) calculate the upthrust due to the water flow under the dam.
Figure 11
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 15
Many soils are formed in horizontal layers as a result of sedimentation through water.
Because of seasonal variations such deposits tend to be horizontally layered and this
results in different permeabilities in the horizontal and vertical directions.
10.7.2 Flow nets for soil with anisotropic permeability
It can be demonstrated that in the case of plane flow in an anisotropic material having a
horizontal permeability kH and a vertical permeability kv, the solution can be reduced to
that of flow in an isotropic material by doing a variable change
x
kH
kV
and
with
So the flow in anisotropic soil can be analysed using the same methods (including
sketching flow nets) that are used for analysing isotropic soils.
Example - Seepage in an anisotropic soil
Suppose we wish to calculate the flow under the dam shown in Figure 12;
Im perm eable
dam
H1
z
H2
L
x
Soil layer
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 16
4 kV
kV
=2
so
x
2
z=z
In terms of transformed co-ordinates this becomes as shown in Figure 13
x=
H1
H2
z
L/2
x
Soil layer
Impermeable bedrock
5m
Impermeable bedrock
Fig. 14 Flow net for the transformed geometry
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 17
It is possible to use the flow net in the transformed space to calculate the flow underneath
the dam by introducing an equivalent permeability
k eq = k H k V
10.8
-6
Introduction
Fig. 15 illustrates equilibrium conditions in a column of soil. The left-hand tank contains water and
is connected to the right-hand tank containing soil and water. When the water level is the same in
both tanks. there will be no flow of water through the soil.
Figure 15
At level xx :
= H . w + Z . sat
u = (H+Z) . w
= Z . (sat - w)
(total stress)
(pore water pressure)
(contrainte effective = poids de la colonne de sol djaug)
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 18
Any change from equilibrium conditions will cause water to flow through the soil and this will alter
the effective stress and pore water pressure. As it flows, the water exerts a frictional drag on the
soil particles and the effect of this force is known as the seepage pressure.
(a) Flow downwards through the soil.
If the left-band tank is lowered, and the level of water in the right-hand tank is maintained, water
will flow downwards through the soil (Fig. 16).
Figure 16
At level x-x
= H . w + Z . sat
u = (H+Z-h) . w
= Z . (sat - w) + h . w
Thus the effective pressure is increased by h.w . This quantity h.w is the seepage pressure
exerted by the flowing water.
(b) Flow upwards through the soil.
If the left-hand tank is raised, water will flow upwards through the soil (Fig. 17).
Figure 17
At level x-x
= H . w + Z . sat
u = (H+Z+h) . w
= Z . (sat - w) - h . w
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 19
Thus the effective pressure is decreased by h.w, the amount of seepage pressure.
If h is increased, it may happen that the effective stress vanishes : it is the heave due to
seepage of water in the ground also called piping6. This kind of phenomenon may be catastrophic
and will be developed in the next paragraph.
Figure 18 Piping
r
J=
r
.i .dV
Where :
r
i is the hydraulic gradient in the direction of the flow.
dV is a soil volume subjected to three forces :
renard
.i .dV
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 20
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 21
10.9.1 Exercise
Verify the safety against hydraulic heave in the following case.
GWL
7.0m
H=2.5m
Water
3
Sand k = 20kN/m
1.0m
3.0m
The flow net, obtained with the Visual AEM freeware, gives the following equipotentials around the
base of the wall. (The datum is at the ground level at the right of the wall.)
A
B
C
D
E
F
h
m
1.6
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.2
1.1
1
z
m
-3
-2.81
-2.46
-1.99
-1.36
-0.69
0
Soil Mechanics
Flow Nets
page 22
As already mentioned in the chapter 8 about Eurocode 7, when considering a limit state of failure
due to heave by seepage of water in the ground (HYD), it shall be verified, for every relevant soil
column, that :
1. the design value of the destabilising total pore water pressure (udst;d) at the bottom of the
column is less than or equal to the stabilising total vertical stress (stb;d) at the bottom of the
column : udst;d stb;d, or
2. the design value of the seepage force (Sdst;d) in the column is less than or equal to the
7
submerged weight (Gdst;d ) of the same column Sdst;d Gstb;d
The partial factor set for this case are:
Parameter
Symbol
HYD - Partial
factor set
Permanent action (G)
Variable action (Q)
z
m
-3
-2.81
-2.46
-1.99
-1.36
-0.69
0
G, dst
1.35
Favourable
G, stb
0.9
Unfavourable
Favourable
Q, dst
-
1.5
0.0
Unfavourable
Sdst;d
Gstb;d
Poids djaug